It was late afternoon. Three grey wolves mobilising through the forest with agile speed. They swiftly avoiding one tree and another, jumping through bushes without a moment of hesitation. Even hours has passed, no kind of obstructions could become hindrances in their tracks.
Riding on top of the three grey wolves were human. Kim with Momo, Teng paired with Ling, and Wong by himself for being the heavyweight among them all. Their destination was Kuala Terengganu.
After getting the answers from the three-person group, the werewolf silently left and three grey wolves appeared immediately afterwards. To be precise, they were sent by Mr Werewolf himself.
"T-t-there's no in hell way we gonna ride the wolves... right????"
Ling was shivering with the thought of riding a superior-rank monster wolf which could kill him at any given time. But seeing how casually Momo approached the wolves and brush their head like a tamed animal the negative thoughts were dispersed. He took a bold move and approached one of the wolves which in turn bitten his arm with pleasure.
"Ahh" Blood started dripping from his arm and his face becoming paler every second. In the end, they were forced to ride the wolves after Kim threatened them with 'another' method of travel. Terrified, they rode the wolves with 'few scratches'
Teng who was riding with Ling couldn't take his eyes off Kim and Momo. Now and then he could see that one fruit and another appeared out of nowhere. One time it was Manggis, another time it would be rambutan. They could even leisurely enjoy some tea while at it. What more frightening was they were not oblivious of Teng watching them. One time, when he was glancing, both of them gazed at his face at the same time which made him stumbled and almost fell to the ground.
They stop near the town in the forest to avoid any attention from the guards. Among the three wolves, the one who carried Wong look like it was beaten and battered. Feeling sorry Wong feed it some water from his water bottle and brushed its head while it was drinking. Momo also gave some fruits she collected on their way to the wolf she rode with Kim.
Looking at how warm the atmosphere was, Ling tried one more time to pet the wolf he rode. This time... his hand was safe. But his head was bitten and blood dripped everywhere.
"Oh my god, Ling!"
Teng was about to shoot some arrows when Ling gave him a thumbs up signalling he was okay. Teng could only sigh when looking at Ling's body flailing around aimlessly.
"Hey Teng"
"Yes, master"
"I'm not your master"
"Okay Sir"
"I'm younger than you. Please call me Kim"
"Surely young master Kim!"
Kim gave himself a facepalm listening to Teng's respond. He could only stare at the preparator called Momo who brainwashed these three men a while back to address him as Master.
He never asked Momo to call him master before and even tried to stop her from doing so. It ended with failure. Well, at least he got used to it since there's only two of them. Now that three more people have joined the cult he's more worried about what will happen in the future. It could only get more awkward. Explaining would only get worse so he just put it aside for now. At this point, there's nothing he could do.
"So how do we enter a city? Is there any requirements?"
Last time, when he visited the fisherman village, there were mana barrier which could hide them from getting sensed by monsters. There were not many people in the village so it was easier to hide them. During the travel, Kim found out that since the city has more people, it was more likely to attract monsters. So, including the mana barrier, there are also assigned guards belonging to the knights of Varhem Kingdom. Surely they need to provide some kind of documents to pass.
"Nothing special. Just show them your ic and they will let you pass. Unless you are a criminal, there won't be any problem"
"ic?"
"Yeah, ic. Your identity card. Don't you have them? Everyone at the age of 12 is required to make an ic"
Kim knew what an ic is. When he was 12, his father brought him to a government office in Simpang Tiga to make one. Does Malaysia today still using the same one?
"Can I see yours?"
"Hmm? Why? Don't you have one?"
Teng's eyes went up and down trying to inspect Kim. It's weird enough that Kim asked him how to enter a city. Now he also asked him to show Kim his ic. Something felt suspicious.
"Don't tell me... young master Kim... you... are you from"
"!?"
"from a village?"
"Why? What's wrong coming from a village?"
"I just assumed that since most villages don't have the chance to visit a city to make an ic. Your village probably don't have an official guild so you probably come here to make one"
Kim doesn't know what Teng was talking about but it seems to go well with the situation so he only nodded in agreement.
Teng was making some kind of a pose while putting his fingers on his forehead. He looked like he was from an anime with characters that possessed supernatural abilities coming from a unique being that develop based on their will.
"No worry young master, I shall assist you along with my teammates. Yare, yare"
While still making the same pose he flashed his blue ic to Kim.
It seems to be similar as it was before. Except for one additional detail.
"Rank-C?"
"Hehe. It seems you noticed young master Kim. I may not look like it, but I'm a rank-C mana user. Of course, compare to young master I'm just a weakling. Wong, there may look dumb but he's a B-rank. Ling is also a C-rank"
"..."
"It's normal to get shocked by our high ranks young master"
"No... it's just that"
"Say no more"
"What is this rank thing?"
"..."
Teng didn't know how to respond. For someone in this era who doesn't know what rank is.... that person must have been living in a cave within these past few years! It's either that or...
"You never heard of rank before?"
Wong who has been listening to their conversation get close to them after he took care of the wolf he rode. Ling also joined the fray with his head fully bandaged. Kim didn't answer Wong the first time so he asked another question.
"Young master Kim, if I may ask... where do you come from?"
"Malaysia"
There's a short moment of pause before Wong asked Kim again
"Where, exactly?"
"..."
No answer. Only silence and the sound of Momo playing around with the wolves in the background. Wong was about to ask another question when Teng interrupted with tears in his eyes.
"I understand now... *sob* *sob* Young master Kim is truly admirable!"
Everyone attentions turned toward Teng. Especially Kim with his confused face. 'What else he's going to say now?'
"Young master has been training hard, day by day without the care about the world! No wonder you are infinitely strong! You must have been working hard for your family back home as well"
"Both of our family has been killed or eaten by monsters"
Momo bid her farewell to the wolves. No words were said afterwards until they reach the city checkpoint. They were several other mana users as well as ordinary people who work as a businessman. They were accompanied by several mana users acting as bodyguards.
Travelling from one place to another is not a luxury anymore even if one has more than enough money for it. Even for a mana user, stepping outside could mean death. Just like what almost happened to Wong, Teng and Ling.
"IC"
The guards asked each person whether individually or in a group before they were allowed to enter the city. Seems that as long one have no records that should be looked into, the process would be smooth.
The guards use some kind of a scanner to read the details from chips on the ic. There are also auto gates for local residents of the city to enter without passing through the guards. Wong, Teng, and Ling could just pass through the auto gates, but they were lining up to accompany Kim. It was impressive to see Malaysian lining up properly.
While waiting for his turn, Kim was observing the barrier which keeps the town safe. After his mana sense elevated to the level of a sovereign, he could clearly see the flow of mana which enable him to analyse any mechanism that requires mana. He could sense that the barrier is not exactly a barrier but more like a reflector.
It's a double-sided mirror which reflects mana in both ways. Mana from inside would not leak outside and mana from outside will be reflected away. Thus, creating a non-mana zone within a certain distance from the city. Monsters won't be attracted to this place.
Even if there is a monster manage to step inside the non-mana zone, another defence mechanism which could kill the monster on-site will activate. Kim could sense several dozens of mana powered artillery which shoot enchanted missiles. This much firepower could potentially stop a group of monsters lead by a high-tier superior rank monster. It may even be able to injure a legendary rank monster! In fact, there were already several corpses of monsters dead in the vicinity.
"Only monsters get attacked when they approached the city?"
Wong looked at Kim with an impressed face. Being in a non-mana zone means that it is hard to detect anything with mana sense. He only knew about the defensive mechanism from the city mana user guild notifications. They were in charge of managing the city security.
"I saw it myself when they lured some monsters for a test run"
'That could possibly mean they have a radar to detect monsters. Or sensors. Whichever it is...I wish I could have it when I was in Borneo' Kim thought about his early life after the calamity. He wasn't as strong as he is now or even had the capability to control his mana well. The life of neverending chase with him as the mouse was torturous. Especially when his sleep would get disturbed every minute or so. He grabbed his hair in frustration. 'If only I have one! Argh! My precious sleeping time!'
Wong was flabbergasted with Kim sudden reactions of frustration. Looking at Kim distorted face he thought he said the wrong thing. But Momo assured him that this was normal
"Don't worry Uncle Wong. Master always talk to himself in his head"
Wong wanted to reassure himself by asking Kim if he was really okay. But seeing how Kim's reaction was getting worse, he decided to let it go. 'I guess all strong people have some quirks'
"Surprised to see the three of you here, B-ranker Wong, C-ranker Teng and Ling. What didn't you pass through the auto gates as usual?"
The guards gave a warm welcome to the group. The three were not just locals, but also famous among the many mana users. They have been one of the first local who actually become mana users and eventually made it to the rank. Rank among mana users is like a pyramid.
The higher the rank, the less number of people will be within each group of rank. For a B-rank like Wong, it is almost a rare sight within a small city like Kuala Terengganu. Especially when he grouped with two other C-rankers that make them quite an exceptional team.
"We are here to accompany these two young mana users. Their hometown doesn't have an official guild for them to register as mana users and get an ic. Would you let us pass?"
"Sure. If it's you guys, then there would be no problem at all. Just let us scan their face as procedures and we will let you in. Aren't you two lucky to actually meet the famous Wong and his friends"
'Just do your job and shut up, please. We were lucky to actually meet them'
"You must be hoping to be disciples of them right? I'm sure you kids won't survive a day training under them" The guard chuckled slightly after finishing his remarks. He put out his scanner toward Kim and Momo.
At this point, Wong could only wish he could just break the guard's vocal cord so he couldn't speak again. The three of them felt like giving themselves a facepalm. If only the guards knew what had happened, but Kim personally asked them to keep quiet about it.
*Beep*
"Hmm?" The guard had a confused face on his face.
"Are there anything wrong?
"No no...it's just...are you sure they are both mana users? This scanner was built to have high sensitivity with mana to help us record someone identity from their mana even in a non-mana zone It kinda work like a fingerprint but with mana as the print"
"And then?"
"It couldn't detect anything from them at all"
Wong, Teng and Ling looked at each other and then looked toward Kim and Momo as if they were pleading for their life. Kim and Momo looked at each other and nodded. They gave them a thumbs up and asked the guard to scan again. Then...
"Ahh! The scanner broke"
Wong, Teng, and Ling couldn't believe what they heard. They looked at Kim and Momo but the two of them intentionally diverted their gazes not wanting to prove that they were guilty.
"I guess it was already broken when I tried to scan it the first time. What should I do now?"
Teng then steps up and told the guard to trust them while putting something in the guard's hand.
"They will be registering with the mana user guild soon so it won't be a problem"
The guard looked inside his hand and gave himself a long thought. Scratching his head, he finally decided to let it be considering the three reputations within the city.
"Anything happens, you guys are responsible. Got it?"
Teng winked at the guard and gave the others a thumbs up. After some trivial problems, they finally allowed to enter the city. Kim and Momo were as excited as the first time when they saw another living human besides themselves. Of course, the warriors are technically humans but they were reborn from Kim's power.
After seeing a small fisherman village which was quite modern due to mana technology development one could only imagine how a city would be like. Even more so a capital city like Kuala Lumpur!
Their heartbeats got excitingly faster for every step they took as they get closer and closer toward the city gate. Today will be the first time of entering mana developed city. Ling noticed the excitement in Kim and Momo's eyes and smiled. Teng also noticed it and decided to give them a hearty welcome.
"Young master Kim and Miss Momo, welcome to Kuala Terengganu!"